Q. There is one sholka in Bhagvad Gita where Krishna says to Arjuna, “Never was the time that you didn’t exists nor shall you be cease to exist ….” .

There are few other shlokas like in one the Lord says, “I am the seed giving father of all living entities ….” and other one wherein he says, “…. everything emanates from me ….“.

Now the first shloka which Is mentioned above appears conflicting with other two. For example, if the other two shloka are assumed to be true then it implies that spirit soul was also created which means we all living entities (jiva tatva) have some beginning in the past with reference to time right now. However the first shloka refutes this implication by saying that we have no beginning. So how is that two verses are appearing contradictory ?

A. The apparent contradiction that troubles can be resolved by the following understanding.

In the seventh shloka of chapter 15, Lord Krishna reveals the identity of the living entity -

Translation : The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.

The words mamaivamso (”fragmental parts and parcels of the Supreme Lordâ€) are very significant. The fragmental portion of the Supreme Lord is not like some material broken part. Before speaking this, the Lord has already explained (Bg 2.23) that spirit cannot be cut into pieces. This fragment is not materially conceived. It is not like matter, which can be cut into pieces and joined together again. That conception is not applicable here, because the Sanskrit word sanatana (”eternalâ€) is also used in the same shloka.According to the Vedic version, the Supreme Lord manifests and expands Himself in innumerable expansions, of which the primary expansions are called vishnu-tattva and the secondary expansions are called the living entities. In other words, the vishnu-tattva is the personal expansion, and the living entities are the separated expansions.

Translation: â€œBesides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.â€

According to this verse, the living entities are the superior energy of the Lord. Energy exists alongwith the energetic but still, energy is dependent on the energetic. This can help us in understanding how we can be parts and parcels of the Lord and simultaneously be eternal a little better.